None.
In the manufacture of many types of food products such as doughnuts, pizza doughs, pizza rolls, beignets, pizza pockets, taco shells, French fries, tortilla shells and the like, it is often desirable to endeavour to impart a fried like texture to these products through a pseudo frying/baking step. The reason for this is that a fried food may have a softer, yet crispier crust than a traditionally baked food. The resulting rise in demand for such pseudo fried/baked products has arisen in a large part due to dietary and health concerns about the consumption of fried foods and a general avoidance of frying food products in oil or fat. Nonetheless, the appearance and texture of fried food products is desired by the consumer and therefore efforts have been made to find a way of imparting a fried like appearance and texture to a food product through a baking step.
Dough that is fried will yield different products such as doughnuts, tortilla shells and the like as opposed to one that is baked, such as a loaf of bread or rolls. That is, the frying produces differences in texture, shape, color, and flavor. Therefore, in order to give a baked product an appearance similar to one that is fried, modifications must be made to the technology of making the food.
In an attempt to address this need U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,603 (Lonergan et al.) describes the use of a water in oil emulsion and a hydrophilic colloid coating used to impart fried like properties to a baked dough product. The oil is selected from a number of edible oils and the edible hydrophilic colloid is selected from starches, natural gums and chemically modified polysaccharides.
It has been recognized that it would be desirable to attempt to eliminate the water from the glaze to improve the fried qualities of the food product after baking. The presence of water tends to lead to problems caused by the water being absorbed into the surface layer of the food product, potentially making the food soggy. In situations for example where the food product is wheat or dough based (providing a hydrophilic surface) the absorbed water can significantly affect the overall composition of the surface of the food product and impart surface properties not associated with a fried product. This can affect the shape of the dough product, as during baking and the additionally hydration causes the dough to spread out losing its desired configuration, as well as fail to achieve the desired aesthetic properties referenced above.
As such, what is needed is a process by which the beneficial textural and aesthetic features of fried foods can be obtained while simultaneously avoiding the drawbacks associated with traditional fried foods.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the invention provides a fried texture-imparting glaze for a food intermediate that is made up of a mixture of at least one edible oil and a maltodextrin. The glaze is applied to at least a portion of the food intermediate to create a food product capable of producing a fried texture upon a further treatment step.
In a further embodiment of the present invention a method for imparting a fried surface texture to a food product is described and comprises the steps of initially coating at least a portion of a food intermediate with a mixture that includes at least one edible oil and a maltodextrin. The mixture is spread over at least a portion of the food intermediate, and then finally baking the food intermediate to produce a food product having a fried appearance.
In a yet further embodiment of the present invention there is also provided a food intermediate having a fried texture imparting glaze that is coated on at least a portion of a surface of the food intermediate, the fried texture imparting glaze comprises a mixture of least one edible oil and a maltodextrin. The mixture is applied to at least a portion of the food intermediate after forming to create a food intermediate capable of producing a fried texture without the aid of frying.
In a still further embodiment of the present invention, a method of increasing the baked specific volume of a glazed baked dough product over dimensions of a corresponding unglazed baked dough product is described and comprises the steps of initially coating at least a portion of a food intermediate with a glaze composed of at least one edible oil and an anhydrous low density maltodextrin. The food intermediate with the glaze is then baked to impart a fried texture to the baked dough product.
This invention therefore provides the advantage that unbaked dough products, when coated with the glaze of the invention, may be used to enhance the baked specific volume (BSV) of the baked product, while simultaneously imparting a fried-like texture to the baked product.
The present invention also provides a method to impart a fried texture to food products, preferably wheat based or dough products that are baked without a frying step.
All percentages are by weight (wt %) unless otherwise indicated. Further embodiments of the present invention, without limitation, will become apparent from the following figure, detailed description, and examples.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cintermediatexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cfood intermediatexe2x80x9d refers to a food product that is capable of undergoing one or more further treatment steps to produce a finished food product. Food intermediates include dough, such as grain-based dough useable in the creation of bread, doughnuts, cereals and the like as well as batter coated items such as vegetables, French fries, seafood, meats and the like.